Was Cinnamon's birthday forgotten?

Hello, everyone. Cinnamon here.

Yesterday was my eighth birthday. Can you believe that I am eight years old already? I can't!

But, it seems my humans didn't remember that it was my birthday, as they didn't do anything special for me.

All they did was:

Give me a bath...

Get excited to see what arrived in mail (but they didn't look like my birthday present)

And take us for two walks as usual.

I know that my humans were busy yesterday. But, I am sure that they could have done something special for me.

I hope they will make up for this on the weekend!

Wordless Wednesday - Cinnamon turned five on Monday!

Mint is two years old!

Yay, yay!! It's Mint again! Because today is a specially day for me, my sister Cinnamon let me write a post again. Thank you, Cinnamon!

First of all, I want to declare that I am not a little boy anymore, now that I turned two years old today. So, don't dare call me 'Puppy' anymore!

As you may know, I started competing in agility last November. In New Zealand, in order to compete in agility, all dogs need to have their height measured by two recognised measurers so that they can be allocated into the right height class. But, until they become two years old, they can only be issued a preliminary height certificate, instead of a permanent one, because they might still continue to grow, and once they become two years old, they cannot compete without a permanent certificate.

Actually my Mum was very worried about my second measuring, because my height at the time of the preliminary measuring was very close to the upper limit of the Mini dogs, 430mm. If my height had exceeded the upper limit, I would have had to compete as a Midi dog. The hurdles for Midi dogs are more than 20cm higher than those for Mini dogs. So, my humans even thought about giving up doing agility with me if I was classified as a Midi dog, because they thought that jumping the Midi height would give too much stress on my body. But, fortunately, at a recent measuring I was confirmed to be a Mini dog, at 417mm!

Well, today my humans were both smiling all day. At first I didn't know what was happening, but as soon as Mum brought out a blue tee shirt from our doggie clothing basket and put it on me, I knew what they were up to. Yes, another photoshooting! I am not a big fan of cameras, but I don't mind posing for them either, because I can get lots of treat if I pose well.

Sitting...

Lying down...

From the back...

Here Cinnamon joins me...

Without those silly hats...

Don't you think I did very well? What do you think I got for posing so well? Noooothing!! No presents or cakes! The toys around me in the photos are not my birthday presents. In fact, most of them are toys that Cinnamon or I got in trials or competitions. But, that's OK, because I am not a wee little boy anymore! I am a big independent boy now!!

Our Year 2011

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Can you believe that another year has passed already? What was the year like for you? The year has brought us a lot of changes and surprises.

January 2011

In mid January Mint was hospitalized. It seemed that Mint had eaten something toxic, which paralysed his nerve system, but the vet couldn't figure out what Mint had eaten. It took a few weeks before he got back to his normal self.

In the following week after Mint came back home, we moved from our previous house to a rental house where we lived for two months until our humans found, bought, and moved to our new house. When we were living in the rental house, we had a chance to go on a trip to Rotorua.

In late February there was a big earthquake in Christchurch and many humans and doggies lost their houses, which was really sad. And less than three weeks later there were even bigger earthquakes in Japan. Watching roads and buildings being pushed away and flattened by big waves caused by Tsunami was really saddening. Many lives were lost. Now, more than nine months later, there are still areas no one is allowed to enter because of radiation contamination. All I can now is believe in people's strength to overcome challenges.

Four days after the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, we moved from the rental house to our new house. Our previous house was close to the city centre, only fifteen minutes by bus from a bus stop in front of the house to the city centre. Our new house is far away from downtown, but for giving up the proximity to the city centre, we got a great living environment for both humans and dogs.

In early June, I had the honor to be a member of the judge panel for my friend Honey the Great Dane's "Dancing with the Doggie Stars" contest. It was rewarding to see so many doggies and their humans with no experience in dancing working so hard on their routines while enjoying the time spent together. A few days later Mint got placed the first for the first time in an Obedience trial!!

In mid July my dearest boy friend Mango the Mastiff took me to a Dream Date full of adventures!!

In late July I turned four years old and on my birthday I enjoyed my birthday cake that Mum had made for me.

In late October we went to Porirua, Wellington, 600km away from our house, to compete in a national dog dancing competition, and, as many of you know, I won and Mint got the second place in the Elementary Freestyle class!

In November Mint made a debut in an agility trial, and in December I won the Elementary B class and Mint got his first clear round in another agility trial!

December 2011

Well, that's our year 2011.

We wish you all the best for the year 2012!!!

My 4th Birthday

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Yesterday my Mum made special birthday cake for my 4th birthday.

Mint also enjoyed the cake.

After finishing the cake, I became a bunny!!

Cinnamon's Second Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Cinnamon!! Cinnamon turned two today. Although she still behaves like a puppy, her face and body have now become those of a mature beagle.







We visited Cinnamon's breeder for the first time when Cinnamon was four weeks old. But, at that time we didn't know which puppy would come to our house.

The one on the right is Cinnamon

When the litter was six weeks old, the breeder showed us which one was becoming our family. On the same visit, we told the breeder what we wanted to call our puppy.

I am Cinnamon!!

Cinnamon finally came to our house when she was seven weeks old. At first Cookie looked puzzled but soon started to play together.

We love Cinnamon!!

Eat well and run well!

Dear our blog friends, thank you for your birthday wishes for Cookie! I hope Cookie enjoyed his birthday despite being unable to go out for a long walk because his humans were so busy with their work. His mum still managed to have some play time with him, give him a bone twice the size of those he usually gets, and make a special birthday meal for him.

Got a big bone!

Special meat rice balls with vegetable topping

Yum-yum...surely a good day

Beagle Walk was scheduled for yesterday, which we had looked forward to, but we had a heavy rain, so we couldn't go.

This morning the sky cleared up and we had a beautiful sunny autumn day. Today we went to the Hound Racing Club coursing and Cookie and Cinnamon had a lot of running.

Today's entries

Standard Poodles

Golden Retrievers

Humans' lunch

We want lunch too...

Cookie's 8th Birthday!

Cookie turned eight today!

Happy Birthday, Cookie!!!

Thank you, Cinnamon!

Having our own dog was one of our dreams when we moved to Auckland in 2000. Our first home in Auckland was in an apartment building, where we were not allowed to bring in animals. After five months, we moved into a rented semi-detached house. Because most rented houses had a no-dog policy, we thought the house we rented also had a policy like that. But, one day, the owners of the house said 'You can have a dog' when we were talking with them about our dream of having a dog. At first we couldn't believe what they had said, but we quickly brought it into action. We went to see many different breeds of dogs at Pet Expo, checked breed guide books, decided to get a Beagle, and contacted a couple of Beagle breeders in Auckland. It was the beginning of our life centered around Beagles!

Cookie's First Eight Years